When Peace Returns to Hyrule
by Drawne Enynk
Summary: After Gannon is finally defeated at the end of Ocarina of time, Link's journey is over and Hyrule experienced everlasting peace forever and ever... Well, we all know that's not true. How did things go so wrong? Is Majora's Mask real? Who are the twili? Why did the hero never return to save the people before Wind Waker? This story will attempt to answer all these questions and more.
1. Link Returns

Chapter 1 - Link Returns

Reluctantly, he held out his arm, the ocarina clenched tightly in his first. The climax of his life was certainly taking its time to sink in. It went by so fast, but he knew it must have taken near an hour to finally finish the battle. His head spun and he was exhausted. The words of the princess were almost too much for him.

He rejected her apology as soon as it entered the air. Hyrule's poor condition had nothing to do with her. If not for her, wouldn't the land still be in ruin? General thoughts of disbelief crept through his mind and danced on the tip of his tongue. He would have offered her encouragement or forgiveness, after all, it wasn't her fault. As usual, though, he said nothing. They were running out of time. And he was so very tired... He was always so tired...

She placed her hands around his, but could no longer find the strength to look him in the eyes. He sighed. She was really going to do it, wasn't she?

"When peace returns to Hyrule... It will be time for us to say good-bye..."

With that she slid the ocarina from his fingers. She didn't want to do it. She REALLY didn't want to do it. But she needed to.

She had put it off for far too long already.

She finally looked at him, and saw the foolish ignorant obedience. Needless to say, it didn't help.

He doesn't even realize... and he never will. His innocence only made her feel worse. She had put everything at risk for her own safety. Everything. Link didn't deserve all this. Why was the responsibility his? She couldn't help feeling a bit guilty.

Oh, well. It was all over now. Confidently, she tried to convince herself that it was for the best. Her motives were not entirely selfish, right? It was for the good of the kingdom... Yes. Where Hyrule is concerned, right and wrong are not. You couldn't blame a princess for trying to protect her own kingdom. But you can always blame yourself. Inwardly she sighed. It just wasn't fair.

She would have to do it quickly. So Link could get his life back. So she wouldn't make her terrible mistake. So that maybe somewhere... this would have never happened. That's right, focus on the positives.

"Now, go home, Link. Regain your lost time! Home... where you are supposed to be... the way you are supposed to be..."

She put the ocarina to her lips and closed her eyes. Blue light surrounded Link as she played. Home... he was finally going home... He looked up and felt his body rise away from everything. Navi twinkled over his head. It made him smile to see her. Occasionally he forgot she was there. She always was, wasn't she? Thankfully, she had not spoken the whole time Zelda was talking. For some reason, he felt happy to see that she was coming with him. He closed his eyes, and with a picture of home in his mind, he allowed himself to slip away.

At the moment of his departure, Zelda let one more doubt slip into her thoughts. He could've died. He could've died and then there would be NO peace and it would be all your fault. Suddenly she had a vision of Link's final battle with Gannondorf. You wouldn't have been able to stop it. What good would your good intentions do you then? She heard his laughter in her head.

And then it stopped being a vision and became real. The clouds turned black and thunder struck all around in the sacred realm. Link was long gone, but a new figure appeared to take his place. An enormous figure.

"Thank you... Link..."

"Good-bye..."

That night in the field, all the people of Hyrule gathered and celebrated the end of terrible times. How quickly they forgot their troubles when promised peace. But the faster your worries are left behind, the faster the evils that you fear will come back to you.

While the people danced and sang and forgot what they did not care to remember, not a one of them knew what they had in store. And while they did forgot the last seven years of madness and terror, it was not all they forgot. Not a single one noticed what was missing. How blind they made themselves to the truth. Their brave hero of time would live on only in legends, while the people he knew... forgot.


	2. Return to Hyrule Castle

Chapter 2 - Return to Hyrule Castle

"Oh, you're leaving..."

Link stopped.

"I knew that you would leave the forest... someday, Link... Because you are different from me and my friends..." It was quiet for a long time after that. The forest held its breath. "But that's OK, because we'll be friends forever... won't we?" Saria couldn't imagine that he would leave forever, meet other people to spend his time with... She figured out long ago that he was not like her, but she had hoped he would never notice. She remembered thinking to herself just the other day, "If he hasn't figured out he's a hylian by now, I don't think he ever will." But he had, or the Deku Tree had told him, and now he was going away... She had to make sure he remembered, even if he never came back.

"I want you to have this Ocarina... Please take good care of it." She had no idea what he thought of it, but she needed to get her message across. They both got a little red when she said, "When you play my ocarina, I hope you will think of me and come back to the forest to visit." He started to slowly back away, but didn't get far. After half a step, he and his fairy completely vanished.

Link landed peacefully in front of the Master Sword, once again in his familiar child body. Light entered the chamber through a window and fell on the stairs all around him.

Navi flew off without him, and went straight through the window in her excitement. He smiled to himself as he watched her go. He knew she was going to see the Great Deku Tree. He really was home.

He looked himself up and down. After being a grown up for so long, it was good to be young again. Certainly he felt more at home this way, even though he missed some of the advantages of being older.

Oh, well.

Life on the slow path wouldn't be all that bad. He stared at the Master Sword for a minute, like he was expecting it to move around or come alive at any second. One touch is all it would take... and BAM. Seven years would go by. Instantly he would be back in a world where he was a great big hero who used great big weapons and rode his own horse. Yeah...

Obviously he couldn't though. And he didn't have much of a notion to anyway. He was glad to be back in the past, and he was sure that it was happy to have him back, too. Zelda must have been right after all. Silently singing Zelda's praises, he ran from the Master Sword not unlike one runs from their responsibilities.

Ok, first things first, he would have to go find Zelda again, this time prepared with some insight into the future. Zelda needed to understand that the triforce was not an option. If he got the triforce, then he would just get stuck in the future all over again and Gannon would get the triforce... or wait, that's the Master Sword... hmm. Link thought to himself.

Maybe he SHOULD go get the triforce... just not the Master Sword... yeah... Ok, ok. First things first, he needed to tell Zelda that the Master Sword wasn't an option. Because he was too young to be the hero. Yup. It felt nice to have a plan!

The market was busy as always. Link had always liked the market... all the market people. Link looked over at the happy mask shop and saw a tiny slice of light coming through the door. Upon being observed, the door slapped quickly shut. That mask guy sure was weird... oh, well.

Malon looked over at Link from the middle of the market. She had never seen him before... Hmm. He probably came from the castle! It had never occurred to her that there would be kids living in the castle before. At that moment, Link became distracted by dogs and started chasing them. She laughed to herself and decided she liked him.

So Link went off to the castle, and night began to fall. No sooner had he left castle town's market than he heard a deep voice yell, "Hey, LINK! This Way!" It was the owl.

"The princess is inside the castle just ahead. Be careful not to get caught by the guards! Ho ho ho hoot!"

Link had heard it before, but he wasn't really one to interrupt, so he let the bird speak. It didn't mean that he had to pay attention, though. He tried to will the words to come out faster, not really caring what they were. And so, when the owl said, "Do you want to hear what I said again?", Link absent-mindedly nodded his head. He regretted it as soon as he'd done it, for now the whole speech started over again.

Link really hated when that happened.

This time through, he played closer attention and shook his head "no" at the end. His reward was a, "Hoooo. You're a smart kid. Good luck, then. Hoo hoo." And the owl flew off.

The next part was easy. He didn't even try to get the guard's permission to enter the castle. He knew exactly where he was going. Climb up the vines, off the wall, up the hill, across the field, climb the rough patch of bricks, jump into the river... When he reached the sneaky secret entrance, he remembered an extra step in the plan.

Talon was in the way. Dang it. Link sighed and ran up right behind the guards at the gate. "Hey, you! Stop! You, kid over there!"

By the time Link was dropped by the gate, it was late into the night. Great. What he needed now was a cuckoo. He approached Malon on the road and patiently waited for her to stop singing. As soon as she saw him, she ran up to talk to him.

"Are you going to the castle, handsome boy? Would you mind finding my dad?" He didn't remember her ever calling him that before. "He must have fallen asleep somewhere around the castle. What a thing for an adult to do! Tee hee!" Link nodded and then she remembered. "Oh, yeah, if you'll look for him, I'll give this to you." Then she added mysteriously, "I've been incubating this egg very carefully... Tee hee!"

Weird.

He didn't head off immediately. The egg wouldn't hatch until daybreak, after all. The hero rested his head against the side of the cliff and fell asleep to the sound of Malon's singing. He knew that she would still be there when he awoke, still singing, still smiling, still watching over him. Still waiting to hear from her father.


End file.
